Flint’s Financial Emergency is Officially Over

After 41 months of having a glorified babysitter keep an eye on our finances, Governor Rick Snyder has declared that Flint's financial emergency is over.

"The day to day running of the city is going to move today from Jerry Ambrose to the mayor, the city administrator and the City Council," Deputy State Treasurer Wayne Workman told MLive earlier today. The news is very exciting... and kind of terrifying when you remember who's on the City Council. Emergency Manager Jerry Ambrose, along with Workman, announced that a five member board will be appointed to help with the transition back to complete local control.

The announcement comes just on the heels of the $7-million loan approval from the Michigan Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board, which will be used to completely wipe out Flint's budget deficit.

It may not feel like things have changed much in Flint since this whole mess started in December of 2011, but almost $30-million in debt has been knocked off the books between then and now. Financial business aside, Flint still has a laundry list of problems that range from the better-but-still-pretty-bad crime rate and the ongoing debate as to whether the water is safe to drink.

I suppose that us Flintstones can just be happy to finally have some good news as far as city business goes. Maybe now city officials can focus on fixing the roads, water and, just maybe, bring those water rates down to a level that isn't ridiculously high.